


Day 3: The Unrequited

by Fundelstein



Series: Cloti Fall Festival 2020 [3]
Category: Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Childhood Friends, Cloti Fall Festival 2020, F/M, Final Heaven Discord, Music, Podfic Welcome, Resolved Sexual Tension, Unrequited Crush, video games - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:41:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27094468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fundelstein/pseuds/Fundelstein
Summary: Written for Day 3 of Cloti Fall Festival.Prompt:There is so much history in the way he looks at her. In the way he says her name. When they are together, there is a current that runs between them: like an electric charge on the verge of erupting into a perfect storm.- Lang Leav
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife
Series: Cloti Fall Festival 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1974253
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	Day 3: The Unrequited

He made beautiful music and everyone knew it. 

When Cloud was brought on as our new composer, I thought I'd met my next big catch. He liked to pretend he was hard on the outside, but he was so easy on the eyes, and he's got a soft spot for children. 

Marlene loves him to bits whenever she shows up at the office. Ironically, her father doesn't. 

Barret Wallace— our esteemed founder and co-designer of Avalanche Games— had been skeptical at the start. He's always been big on people and their personalities. Which was hard on Cloud, who keeps to himself and barely speaks unless he was singing lyrics. Prefers to remain on the musical side of things. Shy one that man. Barret predictably mistook it for arrogance.

But Tifa— our wiz writer and other co-designer— was quick to remind him that she and Cloud shared the same alma mater. Plus, her mother had been his piano teacher.

"I've been itching to work with him for years," she'd told him. "Cloud's a genius with composition. Trust me. Years from now, you'll be kicking yourself if you run him off."

His credentials and his close relationship with a rock band eventually smoothed things over. The Seventh Heaven OST had been banger, just like all the other soundtracks after it. Nowadays, Cloud joins the rest of the boys for a beer every Friday night.

I'll admit I didn't go after him just for his pretty face and his smooth tenor voice. I  _had_ wanted him to feel welcome. And what better way to welcome the new guy than offering a homemade pizza? Or a night on the town? Or a cup of coffee at her favorite cafe? Just the two of us?

Cloud was never keen for a night on the town, and in his opinion, the coffee pod machine was king. But he did like my pizza though. Score one point.

Onward, I persevered. 

Leaving flirty business notes on his computer desk? They disappeared without a response. Calling him out when we crossed paths in the hall? "Hi", "yes", "no", "I see", and "goodbye", and then he moved on. Asking for a ride home? Longest, one-sided conversations of my life. 

After a while, Biggs had tried to warn me off. "Give it up, Jess. You're being annoying. Him and Tifa— can't you see how close they are?"

Silly me brushed him off.  _So what if they're childhood friends?_ I'd thought.  _Doesn't mean anything. That's just a dumb cliché, am I right?_

And I was getting somewhere, I was sure of it. He  _had_ begun to warm up to me (or at least he stopped only saying four-word sentences whenever we talked). One day, I told myself, one day I'll get a smile out of him.

And one day, I finally did see him smile. But it wasn't for me. 

\---

It had been an late-nighter, when I was stuck fixing a programming bug. Cloud had stayed on to finish a song, while Tifa and Barret were huddled up somewhere talking business. After tinkering with the bug for the thousandth time, I got the bright idea of getting some coffee— for him and for me. He  _did_ say he liked the coffee pods, and I was sure we both needed a pick-me-up. 

So I fixed them up and headed straight to his office. He wasn't there. But I did hear the heart-melting sound of his thrumming guitar coming from the rec room. So I followed my ears, stepped right in... and froze solid. 

Tifa was there, sitting next to him on the couch. Cloud was jamming on his guitar with his eyes half-closed and a half-smirk on his lips. She was cupping her cheeks with this dewy-eyed look on her face. And they were sitting really, really close. 

The man was practically serenading her! 

I stepped up to them with clenched teeth, and they pushed away from each other as if a lightning bolt had struck between them. They both turned and stared at me. 

"Oh Jess, hi!" Tifa practically squeaked at me.

And all I could say was, "You both want a cuppa coffee?"

\---

"We tried to warn you," Wedge said, trying to console me. "Everyone else in the office could see it but  _you_ ."

"And Cloud and Tifa," Biggs had added. 

Why hadn't I noticed any of this? Am I really that stupid? Was I in denial? Who knows? But once I saw it, I couldn't unsee it. And every time I saw it, my hope deflated just a little bit more. 

He always stared at her, really looked at her, and somehow, his eyes would still be a million miles away. Every time he said her name, even if it was casual, it sounded like he was humming a melody. Or maybe that was just my imagination. 

Sometime last week, dumb-dumb me asked for another ride out of sheer stubborness... and ended up sharing a car with the both of them. There I was, trapped in the backseat, watching them steal glances of each other while the other wasn't looking. And Tifa kept smiling and fiddling with her hair. The entire car was buzzing with a quiet energy, as if it were getting ready to explode. In the end, I stopped Cloud midway, jumped out, and ran the rest of the way home.

\---

Great. Just great.

Not only did I  _not_ have a chance in hell with this guy, but they actually had the nerve keep pretending they were  _just friends_ ? 

I ended up complaining to Biggs. Because, who else was I going to? 

"Why won't those two just make-out already? They're so obvious, it's driving me nuts!"

But Biggs only shrugged his shoulders. "They got history. You never know what's holding them back. Just leave 'em alone. They'll get there on their own... I hope." 

No, no, no, no! No way was I leaving  _this_ alone. As long as I kept watching those two, oblivious lovebirds, I was never getting over this one-sided crush! 

So I graciously left a note in the music studio:

** _Hey Cloud,_ **

** _Yeah, you idiot!_ **

** _Everyone Avalanche Games knows you and Tifa are crazy about each other. Yes, she likes you. Yes, she wants you. So why don't you take her to your place and just DO IT ALREADY?_ **

** _Okay? Got it?_ **

** _Thank you. Have a nice day._ **

Later, I saw in the break room with a weirded out frown on his pretty face. And I waited. 

Three days later, him and Tifa shuffled into the office that morning, both of them red in the face and smelling as manly as his body wash. They tried to be low-key. It didn't work. They shouldn't have held hands. 

No, I wasn't particularly happy. I'm not  _that_ selfless. But I was finally able to breath a sigh in relief. 

It was time to find the next fish in the sea.


End file.
